BALBOA PARK  Nearly 3,000 abortion opponents marched through Balboa Park Saturday in recognition of the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and vowed to continue the fight to overturn the landmark decision that legalized abortion.

With its inaugural Walk for Life, San Diego joins cities across the country that will host similar anti-abortion marches this week, including Sacramento and San Francisco.

Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Church fired up the crowd before the walk, condemning those who support abortion and calling it a tragedy similar to the Holocaust and slavery.

“History will be hard on pro-abortionists, just as it is hard on those who were pro-slavery. Why? Because they were morally wrong,” said Garlow.

Tuesday marks the anniversary of the day the U.S. Supreme Court decided to legalize abortion in 1973.

Abortion has long been a contentious issue. Both sides quote different polls showing Americans favor their position.

Anti-abortion advocates, like those gathered Saturday, say life begins at conception, consider abortion murder of a human being and support the rights of fathers in the decision.

Abortion rights advocates say the decision is a woman’s to make with her family and faith, consider a fetus not yet to be a person and believe a woman has a right to safe and accessible abortion services.

In addition to the anti-abortion marches, several groups supporting abortion rights will be hosting events across the country in celebration of the 1973 decision. In San Diego, a sold-out dinner is being hosted Thursday by the San Diego Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Advocates will applaud the legalization and the work done since then but say that the fight to keep providing such services goes on.

“On the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood recognizes the need for continued access to safe and legal abortion for women if and when they need to consider it,” said Jennifer Coburn, director of communications for Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. “Many remember a time before abortion was legal, and countless women were injured or killed in unsafe, illegal procedures performed by untrained, unlicensed providers.”

The marchers at Balboa Park felt differently, carrying colorful signs with slogans and pictures of babies on them.

Heather Mechanic, of Poway, carried a sign that read, “I regret my abortion.” It was the 1970s, and Mechanic, who was mom to a youngster and freshly divorced from an abusive man, could not face the criticism of having a child out of wedlock.

“Every day I thought of my baby, I felt emotionally destroyed,” said Mechanic, who was left sterile and attempted suicide twice before converting to Christianity and becoming an activist against abortion. “I believe it is going to end; we have a God that answers.”

Kaelyn Church, 16, attended with three other Cathedral Catholic High School friends to show support for the cause.

“God gave us a purpose in life, and He has a plan for all of us,” Church said. “It’s not right to kill little human beings.”

Daniel Andrus, 28, carried a sign depicting a skeletal baby cradled by the words “1⁄3 of our generation has been killed by abortion.”

“We have to stand up for the gift of life,” said Andrus, who brought a group of young people from St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Fallbrook. “There are other options than terminating a pregnancy because life begins at conception.”

Nicole and Timothy Clark, of La Mesa, brought their four children, ages 3 months to 7 years old.

“We want to show there are people who care about the moms who are suffering as well as the babies and the dads who get left out of the decision,” said Nicole Clark, 32. “There is so much love for them, they don’t have to feel trapped.”

Laura Robles, 22, also attended thinking about the moms who face the decision of abortion. The La Mesa woman is 7 months pregnant.

“I think life should be protected from conception until death,” she said. “We are here to support women in unplanned pregnancy. Their lives are just as important as their babies’.”